Each month, we select up to ten publications from those that have recently been entered into the Literature Database.

A year ago, there were approximately 7,850 citations in the Literature Database. As of September 2007, we now have over 8,885 citations.

View Sloan Literature Update articles in the Literature Database.

Global Perspectives - Bhagat, R.S., Steverson, P.K. & Segovis. J.C. (2007). International and cultural variations in employee assistance programmes: Implications for managerial health and effectiveness. Journal of Management Studies, 44(2), 222-242.

Employee assistance programs have become quite common in Western organizations, but there is little information available about EAPs in non-Western cultures. The authors developed a matrix that consists of four different societal culture-based variations: vertical individualistic (i.e., the U.S.), horizontal individualistic (i.e., Australia), vertical collective (i.e., India), and horizontal collective (i.e., Egypt). The matrix provides a foundation for the questions of why, when, and where EAPs are emphasized in organizations in comparison to other types of social support, cultural practices, and styles of coping. Recommendations for implementing EAPs in various cultural contexts are discussed.

Global Perspectives - Cohen, A. & Kirchmeyer, C. (2007). A cross-cultural study of the work/nonwork interface among Israeli nurses. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 54(4), 537-567.
This study used survey questionnaires to investigate the effects of work and home on work-life conflict, turnover intentions, and absenteeism across three ethnic groups. A total of 240 Jewish, Muslim, and Christian nurses at three Israeli hospitals participated in the study; objective information on absenteeism and turnover were collected from the hospitals’ employment records. Many differences came to light in the course of the study; for example, full time work only affected Jews’ work-life conflict, more children meant more turnover among Arabs and less among Jews, and more personal difficulties led to lower turnover for Arab nurses and higher turnover for Jewish nurses. The dangers of applying work and family relationships found in one society to other societies are discussed.
 

Global Perspectives - Cooper, D., Doucet, L. & Pratt, M. (2007). Understanding ‘appropriateness’ in multinational organizations. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 28(3), 303-325.

The authors developed a model of appropriateness that demonstrates how different arrangements in multinational organizations (MNOs) serve to affect employees’ appropriateness assessments as well as reactions to these assessments. Assessments of “approrpriateness” include behaviors, normative evaluations, and subjective evaluations of observable behaviors. The paper covers the work of many researchers and practitioners while clarifying the concept of appropriateness and evaluating its outcomes in the context of MNOs and offers a framework for managers working in this type of work environment.
 

Global Perspectives - Gunkel, M., Lusk, E.J., Wolff, B., & Li, F. (2007). Gender-specific effects at work: An empirical study of four countries. Gender, Work and Organization, 14(1), 56-79.

This paper examines the effects of gender on the importance of work-related goals, preference for performance rewards, and preferred management styles. The local CEO of a German multi-national corporation administered the authors’ questionnaire to workers in Germany as well as those at branches in China, Japan, and the United States. The authors questioned whether there were gender differences in the above-mentioned preferences and if national culture played a role in these preferences for men and women. Overall, men and women prefer similar incentives and awards across all four countries, and all four countries rejected an authoritative management style in favor of a more collaborative or consultative manager. The authors emphasize the importance of considering occupation type, organization type, company size, and employees’ family lives along with gender and cultural considerations.
 

Global Perspectives - Hattrup, K., Mueller, K., & Aguirre, P. (2007). Operationalizing value importance in cross-cultural research: Comparing direct and indirect measures. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 80(3), 499-513.

This research focused on comparing the importance of seven work goals to respondents from twenty-five different nations using data from the Work Orientations II Module of the International Special Survey Program. The seven goals were job security, income level, advancement opportunities, an interesting job, opportunities for independent work, opportunities for helping others, and usefulness to society. The authors compared direct and indirect operationalizations of the work values, and found that direct approaches tended to measure conscious thoughts and feelings, while indirect approaches were better for measuring subconscious processes. Between 3.6 and 20% of the variance in the ratings of work goals were related to a subject’s nation.
 

Global Perspectives - Olson, J.E., et al. (2006). Economic influences on ideals about future jobs in young adults in formerly socialist countries and the United States. Cross-Cultural Research, 40(4), 352-376.

This paper explores the relationship between macroeconomic variables and job values and ideals for future work in samples of students from eight Central and Eastern European countries and the United States. Macroeconomic factors include GDP per capita, unemployment rate, and the inflation rate. The Central and Eastern European countries have undergone many social and economic changes since the late 1980’s. Findings indicate relationships between job values and macroeconomic conditions of students’ home countries, regardless of whether they came from one of the eight former socialist countries or the United States, which suggests that the results are may be generalized to apply to students in other areas of the world as well.

Campbell, L.D. & Carroll, M.P. (2007). The incomplete revolution: Theorizing gender when studying men who provide care to aging parents. Men and Masculinities, 9(4), 491-508.

This report utilizes interviews with fifty-eight men who care for aging parents to examine their conceptualizations of gender and masculinity. Most of the men interviewed exhibited a “take charge” attitude in which they “just did what has to be done.” Most of the subjects were eager to discuss their emotions as they related to their caregiving duties. However, the majority of the subjects (forty-one) discussed gender using what the authors termed “broad, essentialized generalizations.” Subjects stated that women were by nature better caregivers and were naturally predisposed to care for others. The authors suggest that men receive a “patriarchal dividend” from traditional views of masculinity and femininity, and therefore are likely to want to keep these views intact, even when they themselves are performing traditionally feminine tasks.
 

Cobble, D.S. (Ed.). (2007). The sex of class: Women transforming American labor. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Table of contents: Increasing class disparities among women and the politics of gender equality / L. McCall -- More than raising the floor: The persistence of gender inequalities in the low-wage labor market / V. Lowell, H. Hartmann, and M. Werschkul -- Two worlds of unionism: Women and the new labor movement / R. Milkman -- The lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender challenge to American labor / G. Hunt & M.B. Boris -- Sex discrimination as collective harm / M. Crain -- Changing work, changing people: A conversation with union organizers at Harvard University and the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center / L. Savage -- Unions fight for work and family policies: Not for women only/ N. Firestein & N. Dones -- Working women's insurgent consciousness / K. Nussbaum -- "We were the invisible workforce": Unionizing home care / E. Boris & J. Klein -- Expanding labor's vision: The challenges of workfare and welfare organizing / V. Tait -- Worker centers and immigrant women / J. Fine -- Female immigrant workers and the law: Limits and opportunities / M.L. Ontiveros -- Women crossing borders to organize / K. Quan -- Representing informal economy workers: Emerging global strategies and their lessons for North American unions / L.F. Vosko.

Global Perspectives - Guillaume, C. & Pochic, S. (2007). What would you sacrifice?: Access to top management and the work-life balance. Gender, Work & Organization. Advance online publication; DOI: 10.1111.

The authors used both quantitative (human resource statistics) and qualitative (interviews with 60 career managers and workers) data from a French utility company to understand the challenges faced by women in the course of their careers as a result of informal norms and cultural expectations for leaders. They also examined various strategies used by both male and female workers to cope with organizational norms. The successes and failures of various alternative career models are discussed, along with the relatively new aspects of the ability to be mobile to take advantage of many career opportunities.